Kenya Cult Leader
Justice Diana Kavedza presides over a court trial of Good News International Church Pastor Paul Mackenzie accused of murdering over 191 people, in Mombasa, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.
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A Kenyan doomsday cult leader has been convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult. Justice Diana Kavedza ruled Monday that Pastor Paul Mackenzie used religious teachings to compel followers to fast to death. Mackenzie led the Good News International Church in coastal Kenya. He ordered followers to starve themselves to meet Jesus and set up a leadership structure to enforce this. In 2023, authorities exhumed over 400 bodies from shallow graves on the Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County. Followers lived in mud huts there, away from local communities and authorities. This is one of Kenya’s most significant religious convictions.